Apparatus for coloring raised surface portions of embossed fabric



Aprll 10, 1956 G. H. CADY ETAL 2,741,215

APPARATUS FOR COLORING RAISED SURFACE PORTIONS OF EMBOSSED FABRIC Filed Feb. 2'7, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 O IN V EN TORS 2&4. du b k,

Apnl 10, 1956 G. H. CADY ET AL 2,741,215

APPARATUSFOR COLORING RAISED SURFACE PORTIONS 0F EMBOSSED FABRIC Filed Feb. 27, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q73 5 Hg M fi:/35 T fig 7 1% IN V EN TORS frwg g e if fiadg BY (larmce fl Hariaw aware/v57 APPARATUS FOR COLORING RAISED SURFACE PORTIONS F EMBOSSED FABRIC George H. Cady, Providence, and Clarence A. Horton, Westerly, R. I., assignors to United Merchants and Manufacturers, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 27, 1953, Serial N 0. 339,218

9 Claims. (Cl. 118-33) This invention relates generally to the treatment of fabrics or the hke in the piece after weaving, knitting, or

- otherwise being made up into cloth or the like.

More particularly, the invention is concerned with the production of special effects in fabrics made from or-containing natural and/ or synthetic and/ or man-made fibers, such as fibers of cotton, nylon, regenerated cellulose, cellulose acetate, or combinations thereof, or other fibers.

One object of the present improvements is the production of novelty coloring efiects in fabrics having raised surfaces.

A further object contemplates localized applications of color, permanently fixed in weblike articles having an elevated portion. Still another object is the treatment of cloth or the like having an embossed or similar appearance to impart color principally to the raised portions thereof.

The invention proposes the application of color to a raised portion, or to raised portions of cloth or the like having an uneven surface, whether the unevenness of surface has been obtained prior to treatment by weaving, knitting, printing, finishing or otherwise. The term uneven surface apprehends a weblike or fiat body having portions lying in more than one horizontal plane, for example, if a piece of cloth is held under moderate tension at its ends and laid out flat and smoothly on top of a desk or other smooth surface, and substantially all of its underside is found to be in physical contact with the upper surface of its supporting medium, or the top of the desk, then the surface of the cloth would be considered to be even. If, however, some portion or portions of the underside were ascertained to be raised up, or ele- 2 of novelty tipping effects on embossed patterns of fabrics according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of a printing roller suitably engraved with angular lines forming corrugations or furrows in the periphery or cylindrical surface of the roller whereby, in the tipping operation, coloring pastes may be transferred from the source of coloring supply to the elevated or raised portions of the fabric coming in contact with the engraved roller during passage through the printer assembly.

Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to that of Fig. 2 of a barrel expander which may be interposed and brought into contact with the moving cloth at one or more stages of the operation to smooth out creases or wrinkles in the cloth.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a piece of cotton or other cloth having an embossed or raised surface before application of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a portion of the cloth of Fig. 4 enlarged for clarity.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same cloth after it has been modified by the application of color to the raised portions according to the present improvements.

And Fig. 7 is a view in section of a portion of the cloth of Fig. 6, also enlarged for clarity.

The instant invention proposes to take a piece of material in web form, such as cloth or the like, which has a raised surface, for example, an embossed pattern, and to deposit only upon the raised surface or embossed portion coloring matter such as a printing paste, while leaving substantially unafiec'ted, except perhaps in the matter of contrast, the remaining portions or portion of the weblike material. To this and other ends, as will be apparent, there is contemplated according to the present improvements, and referring now to the figures described above, a source of material supply located in any convenient place as, for example, a roll of previously bleached but undyed white woven cotton cloth 20, rolled up in layers upon a reel 21 having a freely rotatable axial shaft 22 upon which the cloth 29 is rotatably supported, with the creel 21 being supported on any suitable stand or flooring 23.

vated out of the plane of contact with the support, the

surface of the cloth as such would be held to be uneven, at least for the purpose of this invention.

A still further obiect is the application of color only to raised portions of cloth or the like in a continuous or uninterrupted process. Another object is the production of such coloring efiects permanently on a base cloth previously dyed, or bleached, or bleached and printed, or otherwise processed. A still further object is the production of permanent localized tipping color effects predominantly or primarily to the upper surface of raised portions of a continuous length of piece goods or the like, leaving virtually unadected the underside or undersurface thereof.

A still further object is the utilization of textile or other printing apparatus suitably modified for obtaining or applying color only to portions of a moving fabric lying in a horizontal plane above the normal plane of such fabrics with respect to a base.

With the above and other objects in View, as will be apparent, the present invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all as here inafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated .in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a schematic representation of a printing or tipping and drying assembly adapted for the production According to the present invention the woven and bleached white cotton embossed fabric 20 may be unwound from the reel 21 preferably by means of a motor drive situated at the take-up end of the whole assembly, as will later be described, so that as the cloth 20 proceeds through the present tipping apparatus it is pulled through the range of machinery at a rate of speed which is controlled at 'or near the exit end of the treating apparatus. Alternatively, the cotton cloth 20 may be unwound from the creel 21 by means of a motor drive (not shown) the shaft of which may be connected by belting or otherwise to the central longitudinal shaft 22 for rotation thereof, thereby unwinding the cloth 20.

As shown in Fig. 1, however, it is preferred to pull the cloth 20 through the tipping assembly by means of a motor drive located at the take-up end of the cloth treating range, and upon being unwound from the reel 21, the cloth 2%) may be passed over a guide roller 24 through a suitable hole or opening 25 in the flooring 23 and past a pair of compressed air or photo-electric guiders 26 after the manner of U. S. Fatent No. Re. 21,568, suitably placed at the lateral edges of the moving cloth 26 to compensate for lateral wandering or creep of the cloth as it proceeds into the path of the printing or tipping assembly.

To guard excessive unwinding action of the roll 20 from the creel 21, a weight '27 or other drag means may be attached to the creel '21 by means of a strap 28 en circling a fixed flange 29 secured to one end of the axle 22 of the stand 21, and constructed and arranged to ro tate with the axle 22. The other end of the strap '28 may able deformation in the cloth 2t) about to be processed.

After moving through the air or photo-electric guider 7 station 26 the cloth may have its direction of movement reversed by being taken under the idler roll 31 from whence it goes as shown in Fig. 1 through a pair of tension rollers 32, 33 up through another opening in the floor 23, over an idler 34 and past a barrel expander roll 35, also idler driven, whereat it approaches the tipping zone proper. The term tipping as heretofore and hereafter used is intended to mean or include the application of coloring matter to a raised surface of a fabric or the like. The roll 32 may be adjustable as at 3211.

The barrel expander roll 35, as more fully illustrated in Fig. 3, comprises a cylinder of appropriate dimensions, to the periphery of which are attached a series of more or less spaced wooden slats 36 which are movable and arranged to increase the circumference of the expander roll 35 in response to centrifugal force as the roller 35 is rotated. By reason of this expansion of the roller 35 upon movement of its slats 36 as the roller 35 rotates, the result is to increase the tension exerted by the roller 35 upon the cloth 20, the under-surface of which is in contact with the roller 35 which acts to smooth out the cloth 20 and get rid of any wrinkles therein.

After being pulled off the creel 21 the moving cloth 2%) without interruption of its movement passes through the tensioning and straightening stations 24, 32, 33, 26

and 35 into the tipping zone proper, and is introduced into this printing or tipping station by being passed through the nip 36 formed by the frictional engagement of the outer surface of a driven rubber covered pressure roller 37 in contact with the surface of a driving steel pressure roll 38. There may also be provided screw means 38a for adjusting the amount of frictional contact between the'rubber roller 37 and steel driving roll 38. Subsequently, the moving cloth 20 having raised portions 39 forming part of its upper surface passes through a gap 40 formed or defined by the outer surface of the steel driving roll 38 and the printing or tipping roll 41 which is engraved. By means of this engraved roller 41 a coloring composition 42 held within side dams 43 is applied by means of a furnisher blade 44, adjustable as by means of a screw 45 or otherwise, to the raised surfaces or plateaus 39, if they may be called such, of the cloth, but not to the unelevated portions of the cloth 20.

As shown more fully in Fig. 2, the engraved tipping roller 41 comprises a cylinder adapted for rotation as by means of the journals 46, and characterized by a plurality of oblique symmetrically cut transverse grooves 47 which cover the working face of the tipping roll 41. It has been found that the depth of engraving of the several lines 47 should be of the order of about .008 inch. it has been further found that in practice the number of lines or cuts 'per inch may be of the order of about 35 lines per inch. It has been further found that the size or extent of the gap vertically between the rotating steel roll 38 and engraved tipping roll 41 should be about just as much as the size or thickness of the cloth 20 being processed plus the height of its raised portion. In other words, if the thickness of the cloth that is being tipped is say .15 inch, and the height of the raised portion is .30 inch, then the gap between the rolls 38 and 41 should be of the order of not much more or less than .45 inch.

It is also of significance that the speed of rotation of the engraved roller 41 should be faster than the rate of speed at which the cloth 29 moves through the gap 40. By reason of this variation in the two speeds the tipping paste 42 is applied to the more slowly moving cloth 20 in what might be termed a brushing action since the rate of rotation of the engraved roller 41 which bears the printing paste 42 is faster than the rate at which the cloth 20 moves through the tipping zone.

After its passage through the tipping station and the gap ii) of the rolls 38, 41, the tipped cloth 20 having the surfaces of its raised portions 39 still Wet from the application of the printing composition 43 may pass over a brush roller 48 the relative position of which is adjustable as by means of the screw 49 or otherwise, and which preferably is rotated in a direction opposite'to the direction of the moving cloth 2!). it is also in order to provide at this stage a pan or trough 50 mounted underneath the rotating brush roll 48 and another furnisher blade 51 adjustable as at 52 where all drippings of coloring matter or paste 42 may be collected. Thence the tipped cloth 28 may be passed over a stationary tensioning bar 53 and into a drying zone.

Means for tipping the embossed or raised portions 39 of the cloth 20 by rotation of the stool driving roll 38, the engraved roller 41, and the brusher 48 preferably include a motor 54 axially rotating the shaft 55 on which is mounted a sprocket 56 and chain 57 which latter also rides over an intermediate sprocket 58 fixed to a rotatable shaft 59 connected as by a reverse belting or chain 60 to a sprocket wheel 61 made integral with or driving the end shaft 62 of the brusher roll 48. By means of the reverse belting or chain 6 the direction. of rotation of the brusher roll 48 may be made opposite to that of the movement of the cloth 2%) as it contacts the brush roll 48.

The steel roller 38 which drives the rubber pressure roll 37 by frictional contact therewith, may be driven as by means of a spur gear 63 meshing with another gear 64 and connected by means of a sprocket 65 and chain 66 to the intermediate sprocket 58. Thus as the motor 54 rotates its shaft 55 this rotation is transmitted by means of the sprocket and chain arrangement between the intermediate sprocket 58 and the brusher roll sprocket 61 including the reverse chain 60 thereby driving the brusher roll 48 in one direction while the cloth 20 moves over the brush roll 48 in the opposite direction; and at the same time by means of the gearing and sprocket and chain connections between the intermediate gear 58 and the steel roll 38 the latter is rotated and by reason of its frictional engagement with the outer surface of the cylinder 37 drives that roller with it.

The tipping roll 41 satisfactorily may be of shorter length than the length of either of the rollers 37 and 38, and is connected as by means of the gear 64 to the gear 63 controlling rotation of the steel roll 38 so that the print roll 41, the steel roll 38, and the rubber roller 37 all rotate in unison;

Returning now to the cloth 20 hearing the tipped portions 39 after passing through the tipping assembly 38, 41, the cloth thus treated and modified may be passed over another barrel expander roll 78 to smooth out any creases or other undesirable deformations in the fabric. The smoothed out and previously embossed and tipped cloth 20 then preferably moves over the heated surface of a steam heated can drier-'79 which rotates about its central axis 80, the cloth 20 moving over most of the face or outer surface of the can 79 as shown in Fig. 1, and from thence over a series of guide rollers 81, 82, 83, 84, to a take-up roll 86 which is driven as by a motor 87 which was previously referred to as being responsible for pulling the cloth off the take-up roll 21 and through the printing assembly, and in fact all theway through the treating range from take-off roll 21 to take-up roll 86.

The motor 87 may be controlled by a conventional switch 88 suitably located within the control of an operator (not shown) and connected as by means of a belting 91 and shafts 93, 94 to the take-up roll 86. A rheostat 95 having a variable electric resistance 89 may be employed to control, as by means of an extension arm 96 in contact with the cloth 20 piling up on the roll 86, the rate of speed of the motor 87, thus controlling the uniformity and/or variance in speed at which the cloth 20 is pulled from the take-off roll 21 through the tipping assembly, over the drying can 79 and on to the take-up roll 86. Thus as the diameter of the roll 86 increases the pivoted arm 96 in contact with the rheostat 95 as by means of contact member 96a slidably engaging the resistance 89 moves in an arc to increase the resistance in the circuit and thereby decrease the speed of motor 87.

Means for driving the steam heated drier can 79 and its axial shaft 80 may comprise another motor 97 fixed to the flooring 23 and connected as by means of the shafts 99, 80 to a sprocket 101 over which rides a link chain 102 trained over a sprocket 103 fixed to or made integral with the central shaft 80 of the drying can 79; so that as the motor 97 is put in operation to rotate its shaft 99, this rotation is communicated as by means of the belts, shafts, chains and sprockets 99-103 to the shaft 80 of the drier which rotates in unison therewith.

Steam to heat up the drier 79 may be fed into the interior of the can 79 by means of the steam input line or pipe 104 and valve 104a, and may be exhausted from the can by means of a pipe or exit line 105 under the control of a valve 1% on the other side of the can 80.

By means of its passage through the gap 40 between the tipping rollers 38, 41 coacting with the supply 43 of tipping or printing paste 42, a substantially permanent color application is imparted to the elevated surfaces 39 of the moving material 20. As suitable vehicles for the coloring pigment, the product known as Metagel 814 Special has been found suitable. This product is a thermoplastic copolymer emulsion probably comprising vinyl chloride and methyl methacrylate or vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate. Another product likewise found to be suitable is sold under the trade name of Aridye 6000-70, which is an alkyd resin. A third suitable vehicle is known as Sheridye.

A typical printing paste composition making up a quantity of one gallon which was used to practise the present invention is as follows:

A paste was made up by stirring together 4 oz. of Aridye clear 600070, and 32% or about 41 oz. of Amsco Mineral Spirits No. 46 which gives the composition its oil phase. After the stirring together of the Aridye clear and the mineral spirits, '2 oz. of an emulsifying agent such as triethanolamine was added to the mixture. Separately dispe sed were 8 oz. of Aridye clear No. 6817 with 8 oz. of Water; Aridye clear No. 6817 being a latex emulsion containing about 50% solids.

The first mixture, to wit, of Aridye clear and mineral spirits was then poured into a colloid type homogenizer (Eppenbach) and there was then added very slowly the dispersion of Aridye clear No. 6817 and water. After all of the dispersion was added, another half gallon, or 64 fluid ounces, of Water were slowly added, following which 4 oz. of Aridye clear No. 6818 were added by hand while slowly stirring. Aridye clear No. 6818 is also a latex emulsion.

Finally an oil base color pigment was added, e. g. 5 oz. of green and A2 oz. of blue per gallon of printing paste, thus completing the preparation of the coloring matter which was poured into the trough or printing paste supply defined by the rotating face of the tipping roller 41, the furnisher 44, and the side dam pieces 43.

After the material 20 had progressed through the tipping device and drying arrangement, it was found to have an attractive ornamental appearance as indicated in Figs. 6 and 7 comprising an unraised ground or base portion 167 unaifected by the printing composition and elevated portions 188, the several surfaces of which were covered by the tipping composition 109 as shown in exaggerated view in Figs. 6 and 7. The special color effects obtained by tipping with color 109 the raised portions 108 of the cloth 20 contrasted with the untipped and uncolored raised portions of the untreated fabric 20, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 before its passage through the tipping assembly and the gap 40 defined by the tipping roller 41 and the steel pressure roll 38.

What is claimed is:

1. Roller assembly for tipping embossed fabrics comprising a rubber covered pressure roll, for tensioning the embossed fabric to be tipped, a steel-surfaced driving roller frictionally engaging the rubber surface of the pressure roll, for rotating the pressure roll and permitting the tensioned fabric to advance from the pressure roll, a print roll mounted beyond the steel driving roller and having an engraved surface maintained out of contact with the surface of the steel roller, for applying a coloring composition only to the embossed portions of the fabric, coacting gear means fixed to the steel roller and the print roll, for simultaneous rotation thereof in the same direction, means for actuating the coacting gear means in unison, and variable speed means independent of the gear actuating means, for moving the fabric through the frictionally engaging surfaces of the pressure roll and steel roller, and for subsequently advancing the embossed fabric between the print roll and the steel roller at a rate of speed less than the rate of rotation of the print roll.

2. The roller assembly of claim 1 further characterized in that the print roll comprises a cylindrical body engraved to a depth of the order of about .008 inch, and having about 35 engraving furrows per inch, the line of each furrow forming with respect to the longitudinal axis of the roll an angle of the order of about 23 degrees.

3. The combination in an apparatus for applying color to embossed fabrics, of a roller assembly comprising a driven rubber covered pressure roll, a smooth-surfaced steel driving roll in frictional engagement with the rubber covered pressure roll, an engraved tipping roller mounted adjacent but spaced from the steel driving roll for supplying a coloring composition only to the embossed portions of the fabric, the space between the smooth surface of the steel roll and the engraved surface of the tipping roller defining a gap for passage of the embossed fabric beyond the engraved tipping roller, gear means for rotating the driving roll and the tipping roller in unison, and independent means for conveying the fabric through said roller assembly at a rate of speed less than the speed of rotation of the rollers.

4. Assembly for continuously coloring only the raised surface portions of embossed fabrics comprising in combination, means for moving a length of the embossed fabric into and through a coloring zone at a predetermined variable rate of travel, means for tensioning the fabric and means for removing wrinkles therefrom before the moving fabric reaches the coloring zone, engraved roller means mounted in the coloring zone for depositing a coloring composition only on the raised surface portions of the embossed fabric, means for rotating the engraved roller means independently of movement of the fabric, roller brush means beyond the engraved roller means for brushing the embossed and colored fabric after it passes through the coloring zone, means for rotating the roller bmsh means in a direction opposite to that in which the fabric is traveling, and means in back of the roller brush means for drying the colored embossed fabric under tension after it has passed beyond the coloring zone.

5. Roller assembly for tipping embossed fabrics comprising in combination, a rubber covered pressure roll, an intermediate steel roll in surface contact with the pressure roll, an engraved tipping roll for applying coloring composition only to the raised portions of the embossed fabric at the far side of the steel roll distant from the pressure roll and out of contact with both the intermediate roll and the pressure roll, coacting gear means connecting the intermediate and the tipping rolls for rotating both in unison and in the same direction, a gear actuated brush roll mounted beyond the tipping roll and distant from the pressure, intermediate and tipping rolls, a common driving means for actuating the gear means connecting the in termediate and tipping rolls in one direction and simultaneously actuating the gear controlling the brush roll to rotate in the opposite direction, and means for passing the embossed fabric at a predetermined rate of travel through the roller assembly.

6. Assembly for continuously coloring only the raised surface portions of embossed fabrics comprising in combination, means for moving a length of the embossed fabric into and through a coloring zone at a predetermined rate of travel, means for tensioning the fabric and means for removing wrinkles therefrom before the moving fabric reaches the coloring zone, engraved roller means mounted in the coloring zone for depositing a coloring composition only on the raised surface portions of the embossed fabric, means for rotating the engraved roller means independently of movement of the fabric, roller brush means beyond the engraved roller means for brushing the embossed and colored fabric after it passes through the coloring zone, means for rotating the roller brush means in a direction opposite to that in which the fabric is traveling, and means in back of the roller brush means for drying the colored embossed fabric under tension after it has passed beyond the coloring zone.

7. Assembly for continuously coloring only the raised surface portions of embossed fabrics comprising in combination, cans for moving a length of the embossed fabric into and through a coloring zone at a predetermined rate of travel, engraved roller means mounted in the coloring zone for depositing a coloring composition only on the raised surface portions of the embossed fabric, means for rotating the engraved roller means independently of movement of the fabric, roller brush means beyond the engraved roller means for brushing the embossed and colored fabric after it passes through the coloring zone, means for rotating the roller brush means in a direction opposite to that in which the fabric is traveling, and means in back of the roller brush means for drying the colored embossed fabric under tension after it has passed beyond the coloring zone.

8. Assembly for continuously coloring only the raised surface portions of embossed fabrics comprising in combination, means for moving a length of the embossed fabric into and through a coloring zone at a predetermined rate of travel, engraved roller means mounted in the coloring zone for depositing a coloring composition only on the raised surface portions of the embossed fabric, means for rotating the engraved roller means, roller brush means beyond the engraved roller means for brushing the embossed and colored fabric after it passes through the coloring zone, means for rotating the roller brush means in a direction opposite to that in which the fabric is traveling, and means in back of the roller brush means for drying the colored embossed fabric under tension after it has passed beyond the coloring zone.

9. Assembly for continuously coloring only the raised surface portions of embossed fabrics comprising in combination, means for moving a length of the embossed fabric into and through a coloring zone at a predetermined rate of travel, engraved roller means mounted in the coloring zone for depositing a coloring composition only on the raised surface portions of the embossed fabric, means for rotating the engraved roller means, roller brush means beyond the engraved roller means for brushing the embossed and colored fabric after it passes through the coloring zone, means for rotating the roller brush means in a direction opposite to that in which the fabric is traveling, and means in back of the roller brush means for drying the colored embossed fabric after it has passed beyond the coloring zone.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 54,404 Ray -2 May 1, 1866 153,218 Goth et al. iuly 21, 1874 320,409 Sochefsky June 16, 1885 504,215 Hayward et al. Aug. 29, 1893 1,360,763 Kirkpatrick Nov. 30, 1920 1,579,264 Welch et a1. Apr. 6, 1926 1,819,793 Ross Aug. 18, 1931 1,960,677 List May 29, 1934 2,019,349 Kleeman Oct. 29, 1935 2,075,620 Mackenzie Mar. 30, 1937 2,199,228 Obenshain et ai Apr. 30, 1940 2,205,557 Fisher et al June 25, 1940 2,364,692 Cassel Dec. 12, 1944 2,598,264 Jones et al. May 27, 1952 2,667,426 Davis Ian. 26, 1954 

4. ASSEMBLY FOR CONTINUOUSLY COLORING ONLY THE RAISED SURFACE PORTIONS OF EMBOSSED FABRICS COMPRISING IN COM BINATION, MEANS FOR MOVING A LENGTH OF THE EMBOSSED FABRIC INTO AND THROUGH A COLORING ZONE AT A PREDETERMINED VARIABLE RATE OF TRAVEL, MEANS FOR TENSIONING THE FABRIC AND MEANS FOR REMOVING WRINKLES THEREFROM BEFORE THE MOVING FABRIC REACHES THE COLORING ZONE, ENGRAVED ROLLER MEANS MOUNTED IN THE COLORING ZONE FOR DEPOSITING A COLORING COMPOSITION ONLY ON THE RAISED SURFACE PORTIONS OF THE EMBOSSED FABRIC, MEANS FOR ROTATING THE ENGRAVED ROLLER MEANS INDEPENDENTLY OF MOVEMENT OF THE FABRIC, ROLLER BRUSH MEANS BEYOND THE ENGRAVED ROLLER MEANS FOR BRUSHING THE EMBOSSED AND COLORED FABRIC AFTER IT PASSES THROUGH THE COLORING ZONE, MEANS FOR ROTATING THE ROLLER BRUSH MEANS IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THAT IN WHICH THE FABRIC IS TRAVELING, AND MEANS IN BACK OF THE ROLLER BRUSH MEANS FOR DRYING THE COLORED EMBOSSED FABRIC UNDER TENSION AFTER IT HAS PASSED BEYOND THE COLORING ZONE. 